RESUMO
Purpose. To develop an animal model for studying mucocutaneous leishmaniasis. Methods. The hind footpad of C57B1/6j inbred mice was experimentally infected with 10(7) Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis promastigote and the skin was studied through ligh and electron transmission microscopy and immunohistochemistry (PAP) techniques. Results. There were morphological evidences of cellular immune mechanisms and hypersensitivity reaction after eight weeks of infection and metastasis and well shaped parasites at ultrastructural level by fifty-one weeks post infection. Relapse of infection with mucosa lesions occurred around the 50th week after inoculation. Conclusion. The use of this animal model in long term follow up could be an useful experimental model for human mucocutaneous leishmaniasis.